Most Famous Porn Stars

25 Adult Film Stars Every Man Should Know

The porn industry is bigger than ever, with countless numbers of men and women plying their trade on the internet. There are thousands of women who enter the industry every year, and in your ordinary Saturday afternoon solo session, you might not care too much about the name or background of the person you’re watching on your computer screen.

But porn stars are actually some of the most interesting people both on camera and off. So we’ve picked 25 porn stars every guy should know about. That includes everyone from the trailblazing women who helped shaped the porn industry, to the women who are at the top of their game, to up-and-comers only the most dedicated of connoisseurs know about. Who would have thought that looking at porn could be so educational?

Alexis Texas

Another girl to be recruited from college, Alexis Texas burst onto the scene 10 years ago. Thanks to her natural breasts, on-camera charisma and her award-winning ass, she was able to star in instant classics like Buttwoman, Blonde Ambition and Tease Before The Please 2. She still directs and stars in films, and tours with a dancing act. Her larger-than-life personality — she is from Texas, after all — makes her an easy choice for this list.

Tori Black

Born in 1988 in Seattle, one summer Michelle Chapman took her parents’ orders to a find a job seriously, and became Tori Black, rising porn star. Consistently rated as one of the prettiest, most natural looking porn stars in America, she became justly famous for threeway sex scenes in The 8th Day and the aptly-titled Tori Black Is Pretty Filthy, which both garnered her AVN awards. Though she took time off to have kids, she’s now back in the industry as a director.

Seka

HistoryForSale.com

Dorothiea Hundley, aka Linda Grasser, and more notably known as Seka, was working at an adult book and video store when she started watching the pornos that played in store. She saw the actresses, and thought she could do better. That kicked off a three-decade porn career, featuring high-brow fare like Cumshot Revue and Football Widow. Of Irish and Cherokee ancestry, she continued shooting the occasional scene even into her 50s.

Asia Carrera

Jessica Steinhauser chose the stage name Asia Carrera as a nod to her Asian heritage (her father is Japanese.) And in a career that spanned from 1993 to 2003, she became one of the biggest porn stars on the face of the earth. It’s been reported that she has an IQ of 156, but that didn’t stop her from appearing in classics like Anal Adventures of Suzy Superslut 1, among the over 250 films she starred in over a prolific career.

Kaylana Lei

Born in Singapore before moving to the United States at a young age, Kaylana Lei (born Ashley Spalding) become one of the biggest Asian porn stars in the world, and has performed in over 200 features to date. Her Filipino heritage gave her a unique look, which she displayed in hits like Angel X and Wicked Auditions 2, after being recruited while she was working as a stripper.

Asa Akira

Asa Akira was working as stripper and part-time radio contributor when she was recruited into porn, kicking off one of the biggest Asian porn careers ever. Starring in films like Pure, Buttwoman vs. Slutwoman and Vajazzled, the Japanese-descended Akira quickly became one of the hottest stars in the industry. She has also published two respected books about the industry, and has hosted various podcasts and reality shows as well. Oh, and she lists double penetration as her favorite position.

Belle Knox

If you’re looking for an upside to sky-high tuition costs in the United States, Belle Knox might just be your best argument. At the age of 18, she went into porn to pay for her $60,000 per year tuition at Duke University. After she was outed by a fellow student who recognized her, stories about the “Duke porn star” quickly went viral, prompting all kinds of debate. But if that doesn’t interest you, her body of work with both female and male performers should.

Joanna Angel

We’ll admit it: at AskMen, we’re pretty big fans of Joanna Angel. It’s not just that she took her smoking hot looks and made some of the best punk porn ever. It’s also that she managed to create a hugely successful business as well. And as for those looks? Her striking features, natural breasts, small size and tattoos mean she’ll rattle around your mind for days after you watch a scene of hers; she’s also a witty and savvy commenter on dating and sex in general. Angel is an easy intro to anybody looking into punk porn, or honestly, any kind of porn at all.

Allie Haze

Star Wars fans! Allie Haze played “Princess Leia” in Star Wars XXX: A Porn Parody, which even George Lucas would probably admit was better than most of the prequels. But aside from that, Haze’s cute-as-a-button looks and string of awesome performance for Vivid Entertainment made her a star, appearing on mainstream platforms like Buzzfeed while steadily building her adult career. Part Hispanic, part Dutch, and fully gorgeous, she looks like she’ll continue to be one of porn’s biggest stars for years.

Sunny Leone

From the sleepy Canadian town of Sarnia, Sunny Leone is easily the most famous porn star of Indian descent in the world. After posing in Penthouse, she signed with industry heavyweight Vivid Entertainment and created some of the most memorable lesbian porn you’ll see, including Sunny Loves Cher and The Female Gardener. She would only perform with a relatively small amount of male actors before retiring and trying to make a career in Bollywood. We’re all rooting for her.

Anya Ivy

The greatest thing to come out of the state of Georgia is of course peaches… and Anya Ivy. Ivy is half-white, half-black, and also happens to be one of the hottest rising porn stars in the biz. She has shot several top-notch male-female and female-female scenes already, and boasts one of the prettiest faces in the industry, with an all-natural look as well. She also appeared on Digital Playground’s DP Star, putting in an altogether memorable performance that we’d give two appendages up.

Nina Hartley

Nina Hartley was another giant of 1980s porno, ever since she decided to make a bit of extra money on the side as a nurse. Her breakout hit was Educating Nina, which let the world see her butt up close and personal, which became her trademark. We’ll let you do your own research as to why. She also led the good fight in protecting porn from censorship during the 1980s feminist hysteria against it. So next time you watch legal porn, make sure to say thanks to Nina first.

Hitomi Tanaka

It’s possible, just possible, that the first thing you might notice about Hitomi Tanaka is her giant, 32K natural breasts. But her career is a virtual definitive history of the Japanese and Asian porn scenes towards the turn of the last decade. If you like Bukkake, or other fetish porn, you’ve probably heard of her already. But if you ever need to broaden your horizons and investigate an entire new continent of porn, well, where better than to start with Hitomi Tanaka?

Sasha Grey

Zed Filmworks

Born in 1987, Sasha Grey is still one of the most significant female porn stars of all time. Born Marina Hantzis, she got into the business early, and was pretty much the biggest thing in adult entertainment from 2007 to 2010. Her intelligence, distinct looks from her mixed ancestry, and willingness to do just about anything on camera made her an instant star, which she turned into mainstream success on Entourage and numerous films. Since retiring, she has also been a powerful advocate for the industry.

Linda Lovelace

Wikipedia

Linda Lovelace is probably the one porn star your granddad can most easily remember if you ask him (which you absolutely should not.) She was the star of the first mainstream porn hit, 1972’s Deep Throat. Lovelace not only changed the way we look at porn, she also demonstrated a hitherto undiscussed oral sex technique to bedrooms across the nation. Lovelace later became an anti-porn activist and made serious allegations of abuse within the industry, but her influence on adult film was truly, ahem, breathtaking.

Bella Belz

What with the rise of Suicide Girls and the punk turn in porno, someone like Bella Bellz emerging was inevitable. And the heavily tattooed porn star is worth every bit of her fame. Though she does not have the same profile as some of the other heavyweights on this list, she’s definitely worth every bit as much of your time and Google searching for further research.

Mia Khalifa

Mia Khalifa is one of the biggest names in porn, and also the most fascinating. She was born in Beirut to a Christian family before moving to the states. She caused an uproar in the Middle East, particularly after appearing in a Muslim headscarf, while becoming one of the most popular performers in the West. Born in 1993 and possessing a huge international following, she has the potential to become one of the most significant porn stars of all time.

Lisa Ann

Despite Lisa Ann only being in her 40s, she has been credited with appearing in or directing over 600 pornos. She became one of the biggest porn stars of the 1990s, and only stepped aside for a time because of the fears of HIV in the industry in the latter part of that decade. When she finally returned after a lengthy hiatus, she arguably became more famous than ever as Sarah Palin’s porn star doppelganger in Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?, and a host of sequels. Now she’s become an advocate of increased STI testing and condom use in the industry.

Bonnie Rotten

From Italian, German, Polish and Jewish ancestry, Bonnie Rotten has already performed in hundreds of films despite her relatively young age. She leapt out of the fetish scene when her film The Gangbang of Bonnie Rotten started her on a huge upwards trajectory. Her alternative look and willingness to do kink and bondage scenes have made her a cult favorite, but it was her signature move, squirting, that has won her legions of fans. She also caused quite a stir when she decided to call attention to New York City’s toplessness laws by (surprise surprise) going topless around Manhattan in 2015.

Riley Reid

Ever since Riley Reid burst onto the scene a few years ago, people have been predicting big things for the actress, who has Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and European descent. After her performances in Mandingo Massacre and Being Riley, she has demonstrated a willingness to embrace the most hardcore aspects of porn while keeping an incredible on-camera presence. Her 2016 AVN award for Female Performer Of The Year only confirms that she’s on top of the porn world.

Jenna Jameson

You’ve heard of Jenna Jameson; she’s arguably the most famous porn star of all time. Her time at Wicked produced a slew of porn classics, including Paradise, Wicked Weapon, Jenna Loves Bella and Flashpoint. Contrary to popular belief, she was never one of the most hardcore porn stars, instead becoming a household name through her all-American looks and business acumen. The success of ClubJenna created a business model that numerous other female porn stars still use to get rich.

Cassidy Banks

If you need a new face to add to your bookmarks bar, Cassidy Banks might be a good bet. Born in 1993, she got into the business only a couple of years ago. From mixed Caucasian and black parents, she was studying to become a nurse when she decided to Google how to get into the porn industry. Her spectacular natural curves, willingness to shoot both boy-girl and girl-girl scenes, and obvious love of being on camera mean she’ll only continue to rise; it doesn’t hurt that when asked in an interview what she was best at, she replied “deep-throating.”

Jessie Andrews

Of Baltic, Chinese and Latvian descent, Jessie Andrews had never even so much as seen a porno before she starred in her first adult shoot. She starred in the groundbreaking Portrait of a Call Girl, which any porn connoisseur needs to have checked off his/her list. In addition to shooting some top-notch sex scenes, she is also a respected DJ and musician. Still young, she can go quite far in the industry.

Ilona Staller / Cicciolina

Cinematerial.com

Hungarian-born Ilona Staller is pretty much responsible for scandalizing Italy. She was the first person to appear topless live on Italian TV, and she subsequently appeared in dozens of hardcore pornos in the 1980s, notably Telefono Rosso, under the name of Cicciolina. She even became elected to Italian parliament, although she continued to pose nude in Playboy while in office, and even offered to have sex with Saddam Hussein if it would prevent the First Gulf War. Sadly he didn’t take her up on her offer in 1991, and rejected it again in 2002.

Uma Jolie

Uma Jolie’s stock has been steadily and quickly rising in the porn world. Born in 1995, Jolie has been a much-sought after commodity in the petite genre, her small natural figure making her an instant hit with fans. 2015 was a huge year for her: she worked for everyone from Girls Gone Wild to Mofos to Nubile Films, doing a variety of boy-girl and girl-girl scenes. The California-born Jolie is currently building her own dedicated website, and looks to be a sure mainstay of the porn industry in years to come.